She shocked the world in 2004 when she became Wimbledon champion at the age of just 17, but one of the greatest tennis players of her generation is now unrecognisable
She was once considered to have one of the most famous sporting faces on then planet – but one former Grand Slam champion is now barely recognisable.
Maria Sharapova burst onto the scene in 2004 be becoming the darling of Wimbledon, beating Lindsey Davenport in the final at the age of just 17. It proved the platform for a storybook career, latter winning two French Open titles, as well as both the Australian and US Open – to go with Olympic gold in 2012.
But it wasn’t just on the court where she won awards and honours. In 2006, Maxim ranked the Russian star ‘the hottest athlete in the world’ for the fourth consecutive year. That same year, she posed in a bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 Valentine’s Day issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
But those who followed the star in her heyday would have to look twice at her latest pictures on Instagram. Sharapova retired more than three years ago following the 2020 Australian Open, and to put it mildly, has changed her look in her time away.